Bobby Kerr and the Down to Business team (literally) rolled into Westport last weekend after completing a 42km cycle along Mayo's Greenway which took them all the way from Achill to the centre of the town.
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We gave Bobby Kerr a GoPro for his trip to Westport and he spent a lot of time cycling...
Posted by Newstalk 106-108 fm on Tuesday, 21 July 2015
This was part of the show's sprawling Taking Back the High Street campaign which has trekked from town to town across the country, taking the pulse of the local business landscape at every stop.
But the truth about Westport is that the high street never went away. Everywhere we went the Mayo town was held-up as the model which towns hoped to emulate.
One name kept popping up again and again - town architect Simon Wall.
Looking back at the weekend, we thought that it would be a good time to dig up an in-depth interview which we did with Mr Wall a few weeks ago.
He explains that the success of Westport has been no accident - and that since it committed to a new town plan at the turn of the millennium, everyone has worked together to transform the town.
Projects put into action include everything from major operations like putting overground electricity cables underground and moving traffic out of the centre of the town - to minor details like signage, street furniture and the planning of flower arrangements in the octagon at the heart of the town.
You can listen to more of the action from Westport - hear older highlights, and read Bobby's blog posts our show page.
